We are very excited to announce that EMI Industries was featured on the March 2013 issue of Retail Environments magazine from the Association for Retail Environments. The feature focuses on our innovative multi-regional strategy, which allows all five EMI locations (Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas) to work together to balance workload and cater to our customer’s special requirements and individual geographic locations. 

EMI’s multi-regional strategy allows us to be flexible, sustainable and to keep costs and shipping times down. These are unique capabilities that many of our clients take advantage of.  Since each of our locations uses consistent equipment and software, our customers are granted the key benefit of being able to have their orders built and shipped from the EMI location most beneficial to them; all without ever sacrificing quality. This gives our customers a competitive advantage and relieves some of the headache and stress associated with growing a business. And this is what EMI Industries is here for: To provide service and innovation that exceeds our customer’s expectations. 

Read the interesting feature by CLICKING HERE. 

To find out more about the Association for Retail Environments, or A.R.E, please visit their website at www.retailenvironments.org

Sincerely,

Jim Stifler

Executive Vice President & CSO

Sometimes it seems surprising that something as seemingly simple as a stainless table involves a multitude of detailed variables making for an almost endless variety of finished products. Within a table, an often overlooked but extremely important feature is the style of the table feet. Read more to find a few examples of how the feet of a stainless table can make all the difference:

Adjustable Table Feet: Press fit into the table leg, a standard foot offers about 1 1/4 in of height adjustment to level the table on an uneven floor. Adjustment is accomplished by screwing the foot in or out. From there, there are options available among bullet feet and flanged feet.

- Bullet Feet: These have a contact area to the floor that is only about the size of a quarter. They also have a hex configuration at the bottom so that even if there is a heavy load on the table, they can be adjusted with an open end wrench. Bullet feet come in plastic, base or 'pot metal,' and stainless steel. See an example of a bullet foot below:

- Flanged Feet- Flanged feet are used if a table (or sink) needs to be secured to the floor. Height adjustable like the others, these feet have a 3 1/2 in diameter flat flange with two holes drilled through, which allows for screwing them to the floor. See examples of flanged feet below:

One other option is an extended adjustable foot. Rather than the 1 1/4 in of adjustment, the extended foot allows for 3 1/2 in of adjustment. Extended adjustable feet are useful when a floor has an excessive pitch to it or when someone tall decides they would be more comfortable if the work surface was a few inches higher.

These are just small examples of the importance of attention to detail when designing the perfect table for specific surfaces and uses. Who would have thought that the foot of your table could make such a difference?

Last month, EMI attended and participated at the NeoCon Tradeshow held at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, IL.  NeoCon, National Exhibit of Contract furnishings, is North America’s largest contract design tradeshow with more than 700 exhibitors.  

Our client, AIS (Affordable Interior Systems) gave us the opportunity to manufacture over 50 products of their Casegoods division.  This was a very exciting time for EMI as their showroom displayed our millwork as the “featured” products.

The trend of neon colors filled the tradeshow and simply highlighted the workmanship and capabilities that EMI continues to execute.

Click here for other recent EMI projects.

Kerri Tortolani

When we talk to our clients or prospects one of the questions that often comes up is "how does your customer portal work?  What type of information can I obtain in the portal?  How does this tool benefit me?

We pride ourselves in being there for our customers.  Our customer portal allows our customers to access account specific information 24/7/365.  

Part of this process is safeguarding our customer's intellectual property.   When a customer requests a new portal we create a user id and password so their information is encrypted through an SSL certificate. 

Once our customers log in, they can access several key areas that are pertinent to their account.  Product catalog, usually broken down into product categories can be drilled down to search a specific product.  Product drawings, pictures, manuals, schematics and other literature can also be found where applicable.  Drawings can be downloaded to a PDF format and easily emailed to field service and construction personnel.

Open and closed orders can be searched by store number, purchase order and other fields.  Once you find an order, you can drill down at the line item level or obtain a tracking number and a link to the freight carrier's website.  This makes it is real convenient when our customers are looking for a proof of delivery. (POD)

Quote and project tracking is another neat feature that lets our customers track real-time the status of their projects.   For customers where we are working on multiple new product development and R&D projects, this tool helps them track each milestone in the project's lifecycle.

Self-service allows our customers to log in an issue related to a product or service they've purchased from EMI.  They can track the status, resolution and add any information (e.g., photos) that might help solve their problem.  Customer-specific Service Level Agreements (SLAs) can also be displayed through the portal as well as a knowledge base of frequently asked questions (FAQs).   

Finally, we have customers using the portal to purchase products from us.  That's right.  It works just like Amazon.com or another retailer's ecommerce website.  As our customers browse through their catalog, they can add a product to the "shopping cart", select a location and check out.  It is that simple.  

Customers using these portals tell us the real benefit of having them is the flexibility they provide.  Customers can access them whenever it's convenient, work at their own pace and stay as long as they need to.  Staying organized is another benefit we often hear from our customers especially those that are managing multiple suppliers/product categories.

If you are a customer and would like a customer portal, please call us at 800.322.9925 ext.236

There are a number of different materials that are used for cutting and/or steam table boards in commercial foodservice applications. The most common ones are Poly, Wood Butcher-block, and a composite wood material sold under the trade names of Mapletex and Richlite. There are reasons for choosing one over the others and while not a deep analysis of each, the following hits on their primary characteristics:

Poly

      Positives

• This is far and away the most common commercial cutting surface.
• A synthetic plastic material that can be easily cleaned by running it through a high temperature dishwasher.
• Poly is the least expensive of the popular cutting board materials.
• It primarily comes in white, but is available in colors which allow users to have a dedicated color board for each food product group; reducing the risk of cross contamination.
• Generally used in ½” or ¾” thickness, it is lighter weight than other cutting boards and therefore more easily handled.
• Being a relatively soft surface, it is easy on knife edges.
• Reversible, providing two sides to double its useful life.

Negatives

• The generic name Poly covers two very different materials: domestically manufactured High Density Polyethylene (HDP) and imported Polypropylene. The import material is much softer, gets scarred much more readily, is relatively easy to bend and is identifiable by its translucent, milky color and screen-like grid surface. HDP is harder, opaque, will last longer, costs about twice as much and has a sandy pebble finish.
• Knives cut into either poly material and because they are somewhat self-healing, food particles can get trapped in the grooves. Surface cleaning will not remove this and bacteria can grow.
• Heat can cause boards to warp and/or melt.
• Poly boards need to be replaced more often than other cutting surfaces.

Wood Butcher-Block

      Positives

• Commercial wood cutting surfaces are primarily hard maple, a bio-degradable, renewable natural material.
• In use as a cutting surface for centuries.
• Maple (and most other hardwoods) has been found to kill bacteria that get pressed down into it by a knife blade. The wood actually dehydrates it.
• Typically 1-1/4” to 1-3/4” thick, wood cutting boards offer a very stable, solid cutting surface.
• May or may not be reversible.

Negatives

• High maintenance. Can not be run through a dishwasher for cleaning and need to be oiled thoroughly (mineral oil) regularly or they dry out and split.
• Prone to warping as the top surface is apt to dry faster than the protected underside.
• Heavy and therefore more difficult to handle.
• Cost 2 to 4 times as much as a similar size poly cutting board.

MapleTex/Richlite

     Positives

• Dishwasher safe for easy cleaning.
• Made in the USA.
• Because of the manufacturing process, can be formed into many different shapes and colors.
• Light weight.
• Very hard. Does not show knife marks easily.

Negatives

• Of the three listed, this is the most expensive cutting board material.
• Hardness means it will dull a knife edge fasters than other surfaces.
• Heat and/or moisture can cause it to warp.
• Lacks the distribution of the other boards.

While there are many other materials and types of cutting surfaces available for commercial applications (glass, hard rubber, Lexan, even disposable products) these represent more than 90% of the market. As you can see, each offers benefits and each has some negatives. As long as you find the NSF label, which you choose becomes a matter of personal preference.

I recently participated in the Association for Retail Environment's (A.R.E.'s) 56th convention and summit.  The summit brings together approximately 150 executives from leading suppliers to the retail industry (e.g., designers, equipment, fixture companies, etc.) for two days of peer-to-peer learning and networking.  The interactive keynote sessions were led by world-class speakers who shared insights and actionable advice on relevant topics ranging from Emerging Trends in Retail Design, Going Global, and Utilizing Social Media to Grow Your Businesses.

It is fair to say that most participants are leveraging emerging technologies to help grow their businesses.  Many are using LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to access new customers, generate awareness, and create a buzz around their products and services.  Some are using ipads and android devices to arm their sales force with critical information to improve sales effectiveness including customer buying history, product photos, design drawings, and pricing.  Several speakers shared details on recent marketing campaigns that used enabling technologies---one of the most innovative and effective was shared by Steve Waltman, VP of Sales and Marketing, Stiles Machinery.

Stiles recently concluded a contest that provided the winning company with complimentary use of a critical piece of machinery for one year (a Weeke Vantech CNC Router).  Participating companies submitted videos stating the case for why their organization needed the machine most.  The submitted videos were very creative and several might be worthy of a place on Saturday Night Live (please click on the following link for details on the contest and submitted videos http://www.stilesmachinery.com/contest ).  18 companies submitted videos...enabling Stiles to learn more about these very important target customers.  Participating companies...as well as the 5,213 of people who followed the contests and the winning company blogs about their experiences with the machine...were able to learn more about how Stiles Machinery can provide them with a competitive advantage.  Stiles certainly proved you can have fun and be highly effective at the same time.   

Myth Busters – Home cabinets are the same as those used in commercial applications.   

Esthetics and price are the primary decision considerations by homeowners in their selection of kitchen cabinets. In today’s economy, those two have often become the main criteria for commercial buyers too. Consequently, with the downturn in home building and remodeling, the multitude of small cabinet shops that prospered doing custom work in homes have been looking at commercial opportunities for survival. Cabinets for convenience and retail stores, schools and restaurants look very similar and if anything, even simpler to construct. That thought process leads us to this edition of…..

Myth Busters! Common wisdom says that a laminate cabinet is not much more than a box with an access door on one side. Therefore, it really doesn’t matter if it goes into a home or into an institution or business.

In most cases, kitchen cabinet manufactures and shops, build a standard box to which different types and colors of laminate are applied. The doors and to a lesser extent the

hardware are the areas used to differentiate their product lines and are where most of the cost is invested. The box itself is usually constructed of particle board that is cut and assembled using glue and wood staples. When lined up next to each other and with a countertop screwed down on top of them, they make what feels like a pretty solid, stable counter. Add a panel door or one with inset panes of glass and they accomplish their goal of looking nice and being reasonably priced. Most also holdup long enough in a home that the decision to replace them is driven by a desire to redecorate rather than a failure of the cabinet itself. But home owners don’t open and close the doors and drawers 50 times a day 7 days a week. They don’t clean the floor the cabinets sit on with a hose, and don’t polish it with a 200lb. radial buffer. Home owners don’t put a slushie machine, soda dispenser, roller grill or mini refrigerator on top of them. And in a home they seldom get hit by a bussing cart or a hand truck laden down with cases of soda. 

EMI makes commercial cabinets. While they look good, their real beauty is concealed beneath the laminate. For most jobs we start with Marine plywood rather than particle board. This is more expensive but where particle board will suck up the water used to wash the floors each night and in a short time expand and begin to break apart, Marine plywood resists the water and stays solid. Our cabinets are assembled using dowels in the joints. The two pieces are drilled and a dowel pin is glued into one of them. Glue is then run along the joint and into the dowel holes on the other piece. They are then pressed and clamped together until the glue sets. That alone would make for a structurally sound joint, but we then screw the joint together. This is the RIGHT WAY to build a commercial cabinet and while it is not exclusively ours, there are many commercial cabinet manufactures that do one or the other but very few who do both. Our cabinets will remain square. A couple years of getting banged on nightly by that floor buffer will show the difference.

Finally, exposed edges are sealed with our 3mil edge banding. As I tell people who come here for a plant tour, when I first started at EMI and heard about the advantages of the 3 mil edge banding I had to prove it to myself. I took a 

piece of laminated marine plywood and tried to pry the edge banding off using an Exacto knife. It would not come off. The bond was stronger than the wood itself.

There is a substantial difference between cabinets made for home use and cabinets designed and constructed for commercial applications. Myth busted! Unfortunately, cabinets using home construction and materials will initially look similar and cost less. The differences in the EMI commercial cabinets will start to show in a year or two when the home version’s core starts to swell and the laminate begins to pull away from the particle board. Even if the initial cost differential was double (it’s not) the expense to your business in time and disruption for replacement would be much greater. Don’t be fooled. There is a difference and the real savings is realized when you purchase the right product the first time, EMI.

We are back writing blogs!!! 

We have some new and exciting news including the opening our new facility in Arlington Texas and changes to our website.  Check out our newly redesigned project portfolio page and  drill down in your industry.   

As a fixture guy and now that we are targeting and successfully penetrating the general retail industry, I pay close attention to most fixtures that I come across to. So this past weekend my wife asked me to go shopping with her and our ten month-old son. Our first stop at the mall (which by the way it's only two years old) was a large retailer  and we spent a few minutes booking our son's first Christmas photos.  I was shocked to see the poor quality (e.g  delamination, raw edges exposed) on some of their fixtures.  Had the manufacturer used the correct  edgebanding process these issues could have been avoided (pictures below 1st, 2nd and 3rd photos).

Our next stop was a kids' shoe retailer. For the most part their fixtures look pretty good with the exception of one that had been beaten up pretty bad at the entrance of the establishment (Fourth photo above). In this instance a better design, perhaps the utilization of bumper,  or t- mould would have minimized the wear and tear of the fixture.

For any given item, by definition there can only be one that is BEST. Has your company been settling for less? Has that been a cost effective answer? Do your store fixtures just hold the merchandise off the floor or do they convince the customer that the products are something special they really need? Are they ‘Fixture Perfect?’ Ours are. It is our focus...talk with us.

There seemed to me to be a lot more activity at NAFEM this year than I saw at the ’09 show. According to official sources, there was about 25% more booth space sold this year and while I haven’t yet heard the attendance figures, the show aisles seemed much more populated than they were two years ago. Of course we are lucky to have it here in Florida (and I understand it will be here for the next three shows also) as more of our dealers and their personnel can easily and cheaply attend. I was talking with Steve Rooney, GM at our Cranston location who said he had several dealers that came with a large contingent of people and a number that didn’t send anyone. I saw Strategic people in their blue button down collar shirts/uniforms everywhere. Talking with Sharon from the Tampa branch, the company had meetings and equipment demonstrations set-up with various suppliers to occupy most of the day all three days.
Sustainability/LEED still seemed to be prevalent in many of the booths but I got the feeling that it was very much like I have witnessed with many of our retail customers, they want to be seen as being leaders in the green movement but haven’t really included  the philosophy in everything they do and all of their products. On this score I can assure you, EMI truly is an industry leader. We have totally embraced the ecological impact of our facilities and the products being produced. And, it is not just talk or a few products, we have the data to show any dealer, consultant or end using account that is interested. Bring this up when you are talking EMI. Even for those people that aren’t thinking of sustainability, as a current hot topic, it is another feature a dealer or consultant can use to help make the sale to their customer. One thing I have found over the last few years that is true in all cases, any customer given the option to purchase a product that is shown to have green attributes vs. another that sells for a similar price but can make no such claims, the green product will win the sale every time. Nobody wants to pay more for it but everyone wants to feel like they are doing the right thing for plant earth.

The other major trend I witnessed at the show was, Curves.

Serving lines, sneeze guards, display cases, even cooktops were being shown in various rounded lineups. From the manufacturing side, I was interested in several fairly complex ‘S’ shaped stainless steel serving counters. Certainly every manufacture puts considerable extra effort into the pieces being displayed in their booths.  Everyone knows that is not how the product will look when they buy it, but it helps make it standout at the show. Occasionally, someone like a Hyatt or a Radisson will see these and want a similar look for a display kitchen. If a consultant or end-user asks for it, EMI is certainly capable of supplying to whatever level of footprint and/or finish that is required. We just need to know this upfront. Curves cost more than straight lines and the more polishing that needs to be done, the greater the cost.  (See above photo of a curved school counter we did last summer.)
I was reading a blog regarding the NAFEM show yesterday. In it was the following, A consultant remarked wistfully, “I know what I want when it comes to the serving equipment for a new project. I just have to find someone to build it." Maybe EMI should have had a booth. When it comes to filling a vision, know this; We Can Build It.

What is quality? And once defined, how important is it to you and your business? On one side there is the quality of the products you purchase and resell. And there is the quality in service you receive from the suppliers of those products. On the other side there is the quality of your name and how customers perceive your company. If every other purchasing decision factor were equal, we would all choose the highest quality available. But that is never the case. Higher quality means higher price and consequently our buying decisions are made on perceived value. How good is good enough?

Product and Service Quality

For automobiles there is the annual JD Power report and rankings. For 2010, the bottom ranking for cars sold in the US was Land Rover with a score of 145 (or 1.45 initial defects per vehicle). The average was about 110. What is interesting in this is that ten years ago, a score of 180 would have gotten the car an award. The market has forced all manufactures to vastly improve their products. While JD Power does not do a similar report for our industry, the same buyer driven requirement has impacted just about all industries including food service equipment. Whether it is an oven, an exhaust hood, or the custom stainless fabrication in an institutional kitchen; in today’s market we expect it to work and pass the health department inspection.

So buy the cheapest, right? Right! Why wouldn’t you? The tough part here is that the dollars on a quote really aren’t the definitive price for the item. Take the custom stainless steel fabrication on an institutional job. While there are basic equipment and labor skill requirements to produce the products, we are not building Cray computers. Most of the companies that compete for this business and have made it through the recent economic downturn have the necessary machinery and people in place. Some savings can be realized through engineering expertise, labor and material saving software and, for larger companies, volume material purchasing advantages. But once the job gets out to the floor production costs become similar. Why then might you see as much as a 20% or even 30% difference in the quoted price on a job?

First, compare the quotes. Is everything included? Are there exceptions noted? I can’t tell you how many times I have seen one (or more!) complete items omitted from a competitor’s quote. When all that is compared is the bottom line total dollar number, this can make a big difference and it is a cost you will need to make up to finish the job. The other more common area for reducing a company’s quoted price is in the intangibles. Functions you may feel are a given; site measurements, entrance clearances (to get the products into the kitchen), solid surface installation and finishing, internal product wiring and/or plumbing, NSF compliance and stickers, material tracking and paperwork for LEED certification needs, supplier contacts that have or can get information your project manager needs as the job progresses, on time delivery, and many more that will come up on any given job. All of these have a cost to the supplier and if the low bidder’s response to each inquiry is, ‘That wasn’t called out in our quote and isn’t included’ then the cost becomes yours. The best answer is to know who you are dealing with and what you can expect from them. Low quote price does not directly correlate to lowest cost.

Your Customer’s Perception

Just as your buying decisions are made on perceived value, so to are your customer’s purchasing decisions. Much of your reputation is based on the performance of the products and policies of the companies from which you buy. Are you in business to make on-going quick one time sales based solely on low price? Or is your business strategy to form lasting relationships and to grow with your customer’s success? Do you believe the studies that show it is far more costly to find a new customer than it is to retain a current account? EMI adheres to the latter two. We choose to be a responsible business partner that is interested in doing what is required to grow our customer’s business. We see the best route to that goal as being 1) through engineering and procurement expertise, be the low cost producer, and 2) as standard business practice, provide the support needed for your customers to grow and prosper through their dealings with you.

How good is good enough? Why chance it. Your lowest cost on custom fabrication comes from a company that knows and quotes what it takes to satisfactorily complete the job to your customer’s satisfaction. EMI